County commissioners still must approve the agreement

By MATTHEW BEATON / The News Herald

Published: Saturday, December 29, 2012 at 07:39 PM.

Thomas said Southerland wanted the representatives from the eight counties to meet and bump the equal-share portion up to 20 percent, which they did at a Dec. 7 meeting. He said Southerland’s thinking was to help some of the some of the smaller counties, like Franklin, that have greater dependence on the seafood industry.

“It gives them a little higher percentage,” Thomas said.

Other lower population counties like Gulf and Wakulla, also benefit, while larger counties like Bay and Escambia, are hurt.

“I wanted to make sure that the rural counties got more consideration,” Southerland said.

Those counties were hit the hardest by the seafood moratorium imposed after the 2010 oil spill, he said.

“Seafood is a larger percentage of these rural counties as far as their economy,” he said.

Southerland said he was “very comfortable” with the formula adjustment and was pleased the voting representatives from the eight counties took his recommendation.

PANAMA CITY — A formula change could mean Bay County loses out on more than $1 million in RESTORE Act money.

The state’s eight counties disproportionately affected by the BP oil spill met earlier this month and altered the initial formula that governs how RESTORE Act money is divvied among them. The eight counties are a subcommittee of the Gulf Consortium, which includes 21 of Florida’s 23 counties affected by the spill.

Bay County, one of the eight counties disproportionately affected, was represented by Commissioner Mike Thomas at the meeting, who said the formula change was at the behest of U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland, R-Panama City.

The Bay County Commission still must approve the change and will vote on the adjusted formula at its meeting Wednesday. The commission moved its meeting back a day due to the New Year’s holiday.

The eight counties will get 75 percent of Florida’s RESTORE Act money. A portion of the 75 percent will be divided equally among the counties and a second portion will be allocated based on additional criteria.

Under the previous formula, the equal-share portion was 10 percent, with 90 percent being divided based on additional criteria. But that’s been changed.

Thomas said Southerland wanted the representatives from the eight counties to meet and bump the equal-share portion up to 20 percent, which they did at a Dec. 7 meeting. He said Southerland’s thinking was to help some of the some of the smaller counties, like Franklin, that have greater dependence on the seafood industry.

“It gives them a little higher percentage,” Thomas said.

Other lower population counties like Gulf and Wakulla, also benefit, while larger counties like Bay and Escambia, are hurt.

“I wanted to make sure that the rural counties got more consideration,” Southerland said.

Those counties were hit the hardest by the seafood moratorium imposed after the 2010 oil spill, he said.

“Seafood is a larger percentage of these rural counties as far as their economy,” he said.

Southerland said he was “very comfortable” with the formula adjustment and was pleased the voting representatives from the eight counties took his recommendation.

Southerland said his job is to look out for the sparsely populated counties in his district as well as the more densely populated ones, noting some don’t have the resources Bay and Escambia do.

“I’m fighting for these rural counties,” he said.

All the representatives for the eight counties — except Franklin, which has yet to join the consortium — voted in favor of changing the formula.

Bay County fares better when there’s a smaller equal-share portion and a larger portion based on the additional criteria, which are weighted differently. These criteria include: miles of shoreline and the portion that received oil (30 percent), sales tax collections (30 percent), population (20 percent), and distance from the Deepwater Horizon rig (20 percent), according to documents included in the commission’s meeting packet.

Thomas said he’s satisfied with the altered formula and supports it.

“It costs us a little money the way we changed it, but it wasn’t money that we had anyway,” he said.

Thomas estimated the county lost out on either $1.2 million or $1.4 million with the formula change.

The move is also a strategic one to ensure those in Tallahassee and Washington see counties getting along and civilly deciding among themselves how the money is allocated. This way, the state and federal levels are less inclined to intervene, Thomas said.

“I think if we show that we can’t get along and we can’t make these tough decisions, I think Washington would step in here and say, ‘We’ll help you,’ and they’d come up with their own stuff,” he said. “I just think it’s better for us to stay in control of our destiny if we can.”

Consortium spokeswoman Cragin Mosteller said the smaller counties’ shoreline may have been less affected, but their economies were impacted heavily because the spill harmed the seafood industry. She said the formula takes into account the “unique impact” the oil spill had on the eight counties.

Mosteller said the formula has been drafted multiple times and it’s been difficult to quantify the spill’s impact on the seafood industry.

“It was acknowledged in that meeting by increasing the (equal-share) percentage a little bit, you could take that into account,” she said.

The commission will meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Government Center building on 840 W. 11th St. in Panama City.